Illinois Governor Arrested for Corruption

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arrested by the FBI for corruption. He is suspected of, among other things, planning to sell the senate seat left open by President-elect Obama to the highest bidder. This is not much of a surprise to many Illinois residents who have thought for a long time that the governor may have been corrupt. While actually selling a senate seat was somewhat more extreme of an action than anticipated his arrest is not very shocking.

This is not the first gubernatorial trouble for Illinois, as former Governor George Ryan was recently sentenced to six years in jail for his corruption charges. And previously James Edgar had been investigated for possible corruption.

In addition to the governor the lieutenant governor John Harris was also arrested early Tuesday morning for the same charges. Next in line according to Article V Section 6 of the Illinois Constitution is the Attorney General, Lisa Madigan. This would be Illinois' first female governor. She would then be responsible for choosing the senator to fill the seat left by Obama, hopefully not by having an auction.